In this terrifying glimpse into the ?American Dream? gone wrong, an unexplainable phenomenon has taken over the citizens of Ogden Marsh. One by one the townsfolk are falling victim to an unknown toxin and are turning sadi... more &raquostically violent. People who days ago lived quiet, unremarkable lives are now depraved, blood-thirsty killers. While Sheriff Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) and his pregnant wife, Judy (Radha Mitchell), try to make sense of the escalating violence, the government uses deadly force to close off all access and won?t let anyone in or out ? even those uninfected. In this film that Pat Jankiewicz of Fangoria calls ?disturbing,? an ordinary night becomes a horrifying struggle for the few remaining survivors as they do their best to get out of town alive.&laquo less

Member Movie Reviews

Typical "town goes nuts after a tragic government slip up, and the horror is really very well done. The last scene in the truck stop is really great and scary. I bought this after seeing it.

4 of 5 member(s) found this review helpful.

Jason C. (JJC) from NEWARK, NJ Reviewed on 8/26/2010...

I remember walking home from grammar school one afternoon in 1986. Many times, before I would actually go home, I'd make a stop to the video store and drool over all the VHS boxes. Ah, movies galore! This particular day I'm referring to, I rented a film called "The Crazies" directed by George A. Romero. The box was a man in a white radiation suit and a gas mask. At 13 years-old, I already knew Romero because of my obsession with "Dawn of the Dead" and "Creepshow." The cover of that box was just the icing on the cake to rent that baby. I watched, I loved...but that was the first and last time I watched the film until Blue Underground released the film on DVD a few years back. I always found "The Crazies" to be a lost gem of Romero's. It's still a cult classic, but no one really ever talks about it, or discusses it. Some horror fans I know never even seen it, which may be one the reasons why it was remade.

With Romero as executive producer, 2010's "The Crazies" follows the story of a virus outbreak in a small Iowa town. It begins when Sheriff David Dutten (Timothy Olyphant) is at a town ballgame when he notices the former town drunk walk right out onto the field with a shotgun. Dutten confronts the man, who has this eerie stare which Dutten labels as intoxication, and in an instant act of self-defense, Dutten shoots him dead. After autopsy reports show the man had no alcohol in his system and that other townsfolk seem to have the same eerie stare, Dutten and his deputy, Clank (Joe Anderson) begin to investigate, leading them to a sunken plane in the local marsh. Supposedly a government chemical leak emitted from the plane, flowing into the town’s water supply and you know the details from here. After the government moves in, takes over the town and separates the infected from the non-infected, Dutten realizes that no matter what, the government is exterminating everyone, cleaning up a mess...no survivors, no witnesses. The film becomes a ruthless chase picture of horrific proportions.

With a good supporting cast consisting of genre favorites like Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker and Glenn Morshower, the remake of “The Crazies” is good one. Nicely paced, well acted and very edgy. Directed by Breck Eisner, who gave the big-budgeted, lackluster flop “Sahara” a few years back, proves himself a solid director here. The screenplay by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright is nice and tight and pays a decent homage to Romero’s version. There were elements of the first film that made Romero’s version extra creepy, you might recall a father driven mad and having sex with his daughter, a scene that was very controversial at the time. Nothing like that here.

All in all, Eisner’s “Crazies” is worthy and definitely competent.

*** (out of ****)

6 of 7 member(s) found this review helpful.

Movie Reviews

3.5 stars. Good, honest thrills from this modest but effect

RMurray847 | Albuquerque, NM United States | 03/04/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"THE CRAZIES is not a great film, nor will it likely even enter the "Hall Of Fame" of zombie-type movies. However, it is a tight, well-constructed and reasonably well-acted thriller that is more than worthy of a look.

In the small mid-western town of Ogden's Marsh, high school baseball season is just getting started. Everyone in town is there to size up the quality of this year's team...and frankly, life just couldn't get any finer. In less than 2 minutes, we get learn all we need to know about this little town...we see that it's a town where everyone knows everyone. Everyone has a place and is contented. Life is simple but satisfying. But when a glassy-eyed farmer with a shotgun wanders onto the field of play (actually, he has what might be described as a zombie-like stare), the sheriff (played at a perfect pitch by Timothy Olyphant) tried to talk him out of his weapon. Their brief, tense confrontation ends in the death of the farmer...and the town is rattled. Things quickly escalate as more and more citizens begin acting weird, violent and yes, CRAZY.

It isn't quite a zombie movie...no dead person is coming back to life. In fact, it's more a cousin to 28 DAYS LATER, where the zombies were really just people infected with rage. But whatever the case, we essentially see the very quick collapse of this little society...especially when the government quarantines them and begins to separate the sick from the well.

The movie takes a fairly predictable path from here...there's not really much we haven't seen before (although the film does feature the scariest journey through an automatic carwash that we've ever seen). But there is seldom much in the way of the truly new in this genre...it's all in the execution. If the film is constructed well enough, we don't pay quite so much attention to some of the plot holes (or if not holes, at least areas the stretch credibility, even if we accept the initial premise). THE CRAZIES is well-constructed, and uses its modest budget well. It doesn't attempt anything it can't pull off well, so there aren't lots of cheesy effects. It assembles a small core of characters, and makes us care about them just enough to draw our sympathy at their plight.

The central relationship is between sheriff Olyphant and his wife, the town doctor, played by Radha Mitchell. They are a couple that has clearly been together for awhile, and there are no big histrionics between them. They feel like a couple that has a natural ease between each other, and even when pushed to extremes, there's never any doubt that they're comfortable. This reflects the overall ease of the movie...it doesn't push too hard. Olyphant and Mitchell feel more like a married couple that is comfortably at ease with each other...not the typical movie couple who always have to find a way to tear each other's clothes off and fool around, even as the world collapses around them. I liked that...and it made me really root for them.

In many ways, the most interesting relationship is between Olyphant and his deputy, played by Joe Anderson (ACROSS THE UNIVERSE). Their interplay, the casual deference of the deputy for his boss, their unshakeable sense of duty all feel natural. These are good guys...but in quiet, unassuming ways. They just do what they feel is right, even if they're really scared. The movie is not showy about them...it's not like their Mel Gibson & Danny Glover in LETHAL WEAPON...they're just a couple of small town law enforcement officers who wear their badges not only with pride but with an instinctive understanding that they have RESPONSIBILITY as well.

The movie has scares aplenty, and lots of tense scenes. There's a great scene in the latter half when the couple is confronted by a couple of crazies in their own bedroom...we've got four people basically clawing and scratching at each other in a tiny room, and it's maddening to watch.

It's nice to see a good, honest little film that knows its business, but takes the time to get enough little details right to make it just a bit more than ordinary. If you're in the mood for a few jump-in-your-seat moments, you could do far, far worse than THE CRAZIES."

Though not as scary as the IRS, The Crazies does make you ju

Shopper | USA | 03/12/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Tonight, I had the choice of doing my taxes, or going to see The Crazies... Choosing the lesser horror, off to the movies I went. I left feeling satisfactorily terrorized, though I am still convinced that a single IRS agent has the power to inflict more pain then an entire crew of a horror flick...

Anyway, the premise of the movie is simple: a small town sheriff married to a small town doctor is puzzled when his small town folk start acting odd. Soon, his small town town is overrun with small town zombies being chased by big town soldiers. Can the sheriff save himself and his pregnant wife from the ensuing mayhem?

While not as brilliant and fresh as 28 Days Later, The Crazies is generously sprinkled with truly frightening moments. Yes, it relies on a story that has been told many times before, but does so in an unexpectedly proficient manner: there is no dialogue uttered unless it directly furthers the plot; the gore is aplenty, but never crosses into the realm of disturbing; the experienced actors Olyphant and Mitchell display the confidence of professionals who know we know they are there only for the paycheck, but still they want us to feel they have earned it. I respect that!

PS: For any Midsomer Murders fans: you may have seen Joe Anderson (the Deputy) play the slightly mad scientist in the episode Second Sight."

Superior survival horror

Michael J. Tresca | Fairfield, CT USA | 03/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I knew nothing about The Crazies going into the theater. I didn't know it was originally produced by the father of the zombie genre, George Romero. And I didn't expect to see a movie about a sheriff (Timothy Olyphant) and his pregnant wife (Radha Mitchell) with my own wife six months pregnant. Please note: this review contains spoilers.

The movie starts out slowly. In these stressful times, we're all too familiar with scenes of sudden gun violence in an idyllic setting. After sheriff Dutton is forced to gun down a former town drunk on a little league field, the town of Ogden Marsh begins to unravel. Everybody knows everybody else in this small town and a murder leaves emotional aftershocks that traumatize its citizens. This includes Dutton's wife, who happens to be the town doctor.

The tension slowly notches up from there. These early moments are critical in establishing The Crazies as a superior horror film. The petty rivalries, the secret and not-so-secret grudges, the sadistic bullies - all of the townsfolk's deepest impulses are let loose through the TRIXIE virus, a military bioweapon that has accidentally (?) contaminated the town.

Unlike so many other horror movies, Dutton and his deputy Clank (Joe Anderson) are precisely the people who should be dealing with an outbreak. The problem is that they are little fish in a very big pond. The movie quickly morphs from a slasher flick to survival horror when the military gets called in, loses control, and pulls out.

What makes The Crazies so refreshing is that it plays on horror tropes, using it to narrative advantage. We find out that the soldiers who are executing townsfolk aren't faceless, that the TRIXIE virus may or may not be transmitted through the water supply, and that taking one's temperature isn't a guaranteed means of identifying who's infected. The Crazies makes no promises but always delivers.

This ambiguity may frustrate some people who expect everything to be wrapped in a neat bow, but director Breck Eisner knows that there is horror in uncertainty. It's precisely this lack of clarity that makes the movie so good - the villains aren't unilaterally evil, the victims aren't always helpless, and the solutions aren't always moral. The Crazies wallows in the gray area of harsh decisions, treating an outbreak with all the ethical gravity of a war.

Let there be no doubt, this is as much a war movie as it is a horror movie. The real crazies, Eisner seems to say, is anyone who would trust authority. These days, that may not be such bad advice.

P.S. Stay through the credits!"

Beyond Crazy!!! Great thrill-ride!

Jason | Backwater, Alabama | 03/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Director Breck Eisner has taken the concept of George A. Romero's original movie, and produced a contemporary version of The Crazies that feels like the worst parts of Outbreak and 28 Days Later combined. Better in every single way, terrifying at every turn, this is a nail-biter, an updated horror film that does not disappoint.

When a quiet, elder gentleman interrupts a high school baseball game by walking into centerfield toting a shotgun, the town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa is irrevocably changed. With residents suddenly plagued by a mysterious sickness that turns them into psychopaths, the military springs into action, quarantining the entire town and attempting to stifle the outbreak by removing and immobilizing the sick. Meanwhile, sheriff David Dutton (Olyphant), his wife (Mitchell), the town deputy, and one other fight for survival

Despite the fact that nothing is terribly original, the movie avoids being too predictable. Scares jump off the screen from beginning to end, and the tone of the movie is believable enough to be ominous throughout. Some of the scenarios in which the sick bound out after our heroes are completely unexpected. The special effects are creative enough to add well to the thrust of the film without being Michael Bay level ostentatious. The makeup and gore are top-notch as well, with blood, brain, and viscera splattering multiple times, accompanied by my approving applause.

Horror fans will love this movie, and I view it as redemption for an underwhelming predecessor. I loved it from setup to explosive ending. Be on the lookout for the pitchfork scene! YIKES!